Nostalgia, and Two Bottles of Milk
by Ultra-Pop
Summary: Post-Majora's Mask - Links returns to Hyrule and visits a few old friends.
1. Chapter Malon

From a distance everything looked mostly the same. The bright blue skies, the long and expansive fields were green and stretched beyond his sight. Even the rivers were clean and flowing. But now without a giant moon overhanging the world it felt just a little empty. Leisurely trotting along on Epona, Link stopped along the river to let them both drink.

His visit to Termina, a bizarre and scary world, but ultimately kind and just confused, had left Link with treasures, lessons, and a deep yearning to finish something. He'd spent a long time since he saw these plains, these long running rivers, these tall mountains, and he just wanted to visit _everything _once again.

But Link had to wait for know. The sun was already starting to set in the distance, and it didn't look like he'd be able to get to Castletown in time. He turned Epona toward her old home, the old Lon Lon Ranch. "Come on girl," he ordered, "let's surprise 'em!"

* * *

Taking care of a group of horses wasn't easy work. It was fun, it had been fun and stimulating since Malon was little, but it never was a quick and easy task, as Ingo would eagerly attest to. She finished putting away the last foal when she heard a very familiar tune playing in the distance. She hadn't hummed that one in a while but recognized it immediately.

Looking toward the entrance of the ranch, past the iron gates, she unmistakably saw a boy in green on top of a horse. Malon knew of only one person who fit that description and jumped in joy. "Kokiri Boy! Over here!" She waved him over, excited to see him and Epona once more, and ready to hear all of their tales. As he rode Epona over to her, she was amazed how he got her to follow instructions so well.

Up close she saw the "Kokiri boy" from before now looked closer to being a real man. Taller, muscles starting to form in his still tiny 13 year old body, and very calm when riding Epona (unlike the first time he tried it, when he tried to force her to heel and Epona threw him off into a puddle of mud,which still made Malon giggle).

Link had a strange feeling of Déjà vu, having just seen her doppelgangers a few weeks ago, but still happy to see her. While Malon was more carefree then Romani, she possessed more of Cremia's work ethic when it came to her profession. He wondered if Talon were a more diligent ranch owner, would Malon would be a more or less of an enthusiastic horse-wrangler?

Malon was the first to break their silence. "You and Epona sure got big." Getting off of his steed, Link had to crane his neck down a bit to look at her. She looked a quite a bit older then when he left her, and just a smidgen more so then Romani. She was taller, hair a bit shorter (_did she cut it or did one of the men do it?)_, and eyes still mischievous and stubborn in her own way. While he was comparing Malon to her previous appearances, she was fretting over Epona.

Epona had grown so big she towered over both of them. While petting her mane Malon reminisced when Epona was about as tall as her and Link, last she saw them at least. She acted so sweet from when she was a foal Malon could hardly believe she was the same little beast

"Has Link been treating ya well?" Epona neighed in response. She gasped. "He _hasn't_? I knew I shouldn't have let you go." She turned to him and puffed out her cheeks in mock-rage, and narrowed blue eye, which made Link giggle.

"Where have you guys been in the last two year? How come you haven't visited? Have you been feeding, cleaning, and brushing Epona _every_ day? You made sure to feed her the carrots she likes and not the ones she doesn't?" Malon's words came out faster then Link could respond, or process them.

Meanwhile, before she started rattled off questions, Talon came out of the house looking for her. "Malon! Honey! Dinnertime!" When he didn't see her anywhere he walked over to the pen to see what was the hold up. He could hear her in the distance laughing and talking with some one.

Squinting a bit he saw Malon with a familiar green dressed figure and jumped when he realized who it was. He ran over to them and upon arrival called out, "Well color me brown, sprinkle me with pebbles, and feed me to the Goron! Link how've ya been?" Both turned to see Talon, same as the bald, portly figure Link remembered seeing, running in his own unique way.

"I've been fine." Link said while being patted on head by Talon. "Me and Epona just got back to Hyrule. Mind if we stay the night?" By now dusk had already set in and visibility was getting low.

Malon jumped in on his question, "Of course we will. Right pa?" Malon put on her sweetest face and cutest eyes. "Please? Kokiri boy doesn't have anywhere else to stay, don't throw him and Epona out!"

"Well," scratching his chin Talon decided, "all right, but ya got to entertain us with some stories boy." Link nodded at the conditions.

Dinnertime with Malon, Talon, and the still grumpy Ingo consisted of a few portions of Cucco as the main dish, with soup and vegetables as a side. "So tell us Kokiri boy." Malon said after finishing her meal, far faster then the men at the table. "Where were ya? What kind of stuff did you see?"

Link gulped up the last pieces of soup and started to talk, vaguely feeling discontent he was no longer known as 'Fairy Boy' to her. "I was traveling with Epona through a forest and," he paused, "well we weren't able to follow the map all the way through the place." Mostly because he didn't have a map for the forest he was in, but they didn't need to know of his lack of planning.

"You mean you got lost?" Ingo sarcastically muttered, and the other two tittered at that. _Nice to see you never change Ingo._ Link groused to himself.

"No!" Link shot back. "Well a little." None of them looked convinced. "Yeah I was completely lost. Anyways," getting away from his embarrassment, Link continued "we eventually met up with a Skull Kid and ended up in a land called Termina."

While Talon and Malon raptly payed attention to his stories of creepy mask sellers, angry-faced Moons, and various other tales Link skimmed the horror and embarrassment off of, Ingo choose to ignore him. The surly worker propped up his arm, and fell asleep with his cheek in his palm. To him this whole blather about evil masks and creepy Moon's was just rubbish in his eyes. His very sleepy and tired eyes.

Link was having a fun time pantomiming the various people he met to the ranch family. "So after I saved the Deku princess and got her back to the monkey trial..." He stopped part way with a sour look on his face

Both of them noticed his narrowed eyes and turned to look at what he was glaring at. "Oh Ingo." Talon muttered. "Your s'pposed to sleep on the job, not dinner!" Malon kicked her dad at that. "What was that fer!" He yelled.

"Nothing dad." Malon sighed. "You shouldn't be sleeping when the suns out at all." She admonished him and wagged her finger to punctuate that. Talon eventually decided to pick up Ingo and bring him to his cot on the other side of the room, grumbling to himself. After dumping Ingo off he called back, "I hope you don't mind napping down here tonight Link," he pointed upstairs, "Malon's got the only real room in the ranch."

The redhead in question just stuck her tongue out at that. "Well I _am_ the only one who does any real work around here. You and Ingo either don't do anything or complain about it too much." By coincidence Ingo turned over in his cot and mumbled something in his sleep.

"I work plenty hard! I just use my intuition to extend business relations rather then involve myself in physical labor." He explained in his own loquacious fashion.

Despite how silly they were, arguing back and forth, Link was glad some things never changed. It also made him a bit dizzy considering how he just got back from seeing a big Malon and little Malon, and a serious looking Talon in a suit. _Actually..._

"Hey guys." He got their attention. "When I was in Termina, way after the monkey and Deku Princess thing, I got this." He went to his bag and rifled through it till he found a bottle with a purple cover, and handed it to Talon.

"Let's see here." He brought the bottle up close to his eyes. "Chat-ew Ra-money?" He thrust it back dramatically. "Are you saying our milk isn't as good as this fancy-shmancy stuff? I can't believe you Link." He started faux-weeping and turned to his daughter. "Malon he betrayed us! I can't live anymore knowing our customers are leaving for another brand." He did his best impersonation of a weeping women, which failed to convince anyone but did give them a laugh over it.

"This stuff is special." Link grinned. "Cost me two hundred Rupees for a bottle." Both of them blanched at that.

"Kokiri boy," Malon sounded a little apprehensive at the prospect of paying so much for a bottle of milk, "isn't that a bit much for a bottle of milk?" Compared to their more _reasonable_ price, Malon hoped he got to keep the bottle he bought it with.

"The Milk Bar I bought it at said it had magic properties." He offered it again to Talon. "I also heard you can stay up three days and three nights if you drink the whole thing." Talon squinted at it, turned it over various angles, and even lifted it up to see if he could filter it through the light.

"Pa!" Malon jumped and tried to get it from his hands. "Try it or let us have some." Eventually Talon gave up and tried the milk. His eyes nearly popped out of his head after the first swig. "_Whew!" _He had to take a second gulp to hold it all down. "That stuff sure is potent!" He took a step back and muttered, "Mind if I keep it?"

Before Link could respond, Malon snatched it out of his hands. "Hey!" Unlike her father, too proud to try a _competitors _brand without coaxing, Malon drank down half the whole bottle, and set the bottle down. She just stood there spaced out for a second, then promptly fell over.

Both of them quickly got on either side of her. "Link, what was in that foreign milk of yours?"

"Ugh, magic? All I know was it came from really special cows and kids aren't allowed to drink it." He turned to Malon and was about to say something, until he noticed she was gone. "I swear I don't remember invisibility happening when I tried it." It didn't take long to notice not only was the door open, but Malon was running around giggling outside.

"Link?"

"Yeah."

"Where'd you put your bag." Link was about to point and say '_right there'_ until he noticed it was, in fact, _not_ there.

Both men soon realized that a "magic" infused was a very bad prospect for all involved and _ran _when they heard the horses running.

* * *

Every morning, at the crack of dawn, Ingo dragged himself out of his makeshift bed for another day of labor. Very rarely was anyone but Malon up at that time, _the girl must have inherited her mothers work ethic,_ Ingo thought once before adding,_ bless her soul_. Talon slept until past noon, and they rarely had any visitors until the later half of the day, after Talon had awoken and cleaned himself up for guests.

So when Ingo woke up and found _this_ in front of him he was stupefied. Malon asleep and snoring on top of the dinner able, clothes muddy and disheveled, with no sign of Link or Talon anywhere. Normally sweet little Malon, who always goes to bed on time, was somehow looking like your average repeat bar patron.

_Where is that fat oaf, and that little green boy?_ As he took Malon upstairs and tucked her in, he couldn't find either of them in the house, nor in the ranch. _Come to think about it, where are the horses?_ As he looked in the stalls, and in the pen, he couldn't find anything. It was almost as if someone kidnapped the ranch. "Spooky." He grumbled.

After some time had passed he heard a large amount of galloping coming toward him, and saw the horses (all of them apparently) riding back into the ranch. Following them were two very tired looking horse-wranglers.

"So." Ingo said, composing his thoughts and wiping the sleep out of his eyes. "I'm guessing you two had a fun night?"

Talon's eyes were heavy and slumping like the rest of his body. "Malon had some of this foreign milk Link brought, and well she had a lot of fun _playing_ with the horses." Talon started to sink into the ground as he said that.

Blinking he turned to Link. "Playing?" What sort of playing, he wondered, involved taking the horses out to the field at night.

After yawning, and laying his cheek on Epona, Link said, "She took my bag and started throwing bombs upward to make fireworks." Shifting a bit on his own horse he continued. "This was after she released the horses and they were all milling about. We had to spend the night getting them all back." His disjointed speaking only highlighted how tired he was.

Suppressing a laugh at the image of all this, Ingo decided to let them off easy. "I tucked Malon into her bed, I think you'll want to clean her and it though when you wake." Looking around for Talon he took a moment to realize he was laying on the ground. "The cot's just a few feet inside boss. Do you need some help?"

Talon mumbled, "Thanks Ingo. I'll be fine Ingo. Just keep that milk away from Malon when she wakes." Link meanwhile was already snoozing on Epona who was trying to nudge him awake.

Rolling his eyes Ingo got to work and muttered to himself that _he _would never have let this happen if he was in charge of this ranch.

* * *

I've always assumed Chateau Romani had a little alcohol in addition to it's mostly magic contents.


	2. Chapter Zelda

Here is Chapter Zelda, or the real meat of the story.

* * *

Nearly a full day after the end of the "Malon Magic Milk Mishap", Link was finally able to crawl out of his cot and walk among the living once more. Talon was still stone cold unconscious, and Ingo was already awake in the barn, complaining about the two slackers.

Luckily the ranch was in working order, no business was scheduled for the next few days. Talon could afford to sleep, and Malon could spend her time comforting her team after all she did to scare and rile them up. Link, meanwhile, didn't _have _to go in any rush, but he felt a strong urge to go talk with Zelda and figured procrastinating meant he'd never get around to it.

Getting out of his cot, aching all over and still baggy eyed, he moved to collect his bag of item's and venture outside. Half stuck in his own thoughts, he blindly stumbled around before hearing Malon calling for him. "Kokiri boy! Come here!"

Despite how long it's been, hearing Kokiri Boy and not Fairy Boy from his red headed friend always put him in a sour mood. The idea that many of the people he had to re-meet don't know Navi, and the lack of progress in locating her, stung.

Internally sweeping aside his discomfort, he walked slowly to where he thought was Malon.

"Kokiri Boy what's wrong." She yawned while saying that. "You look dead tired."

"Like you're any better?" The normally chipper Malon had baggy eyes, a frown instead of her ever-present smile, and was leaning on her horse for a lack of any energy to stand.

To that she merely stuck out her tongue. "You shouldn't besmirch the name of a fair maiden like that Link, it's not gentlemanly." She admonished.

"K." Link only got about half of her words. "I probably should head out soon." Looking up, and squinting so his eyes didn't immolate in their sockets, he could already see the sun was going to be on the horizon.

"Aw can't ya stay another day?" Malon pouted. "We barely got a chance to see ya."

Link scratched his head wondering how to explain that nicely. "Well after last night I think I want to hide more of my stuff before you go playing with it." Thank the Heavens she didn't try putting on one of his masks, or hurt someone with something like the Hookshot.

"Hey if it weren't for your milk I wouldn't have done any of that." Which was a fair point Link had to admit, he was warned it wasn't for kids. "So come on, what's the rush?"

"I've got a friend who lives in Castletown," he said sticking to technical truths, not wanting to tell her the friend was in fact the princess, "and I haven't seem them in a while so I figured I shouldn't dawdle too long here." Faltering a bit at Malon's dejected face, he quickly promised to visit in a few weeks.

"Alright but I'm holding you to that." She stuck out her pinky. "Got it?" He nodded and linked her's with his.

* * *

As Epona slowly trotted onward, Link still too tired to go faster then a brisk pace, he started wondering how all of the sages were doing. Zelda and Impa remembered him so it stood to reason the others did. He wondered if Darunia and his brothers were enjoying themselves up on Death Mountain, where the name was far less accurate now. He didn't even want to think about Saria, or the forest. Hopefully Ruto decided to drop the marriage thing, because _technically _he never got the Sapphire from her.

_Swimming at Lake Hylia doesn't sound so bad. Letting the water take me adrift, napping in it's cool surface_. Epona shook him when he started to nod off against her, her neck becoming an impromptu pillow for Link. "Sorry girl, maybe some water will wake me up." The river water was generally clean for a castle moat, enough that he could clean Epona and drink from it.

His time getting to Castletown was spent in relative calm, Link started to wonder what he should say when he see's Zelda again. He wondered if she changed a lot over the last 3 years, or if she was even in the castle. For all he knew she was out of the country with her dad on royal business or something. _Come to think of it, did I ever even leave Hyrule? Does Termina count?_

"Come on girl," he pushed her forward, trying to keep focus "let's get there a bit faster." Better to see if she was here or not now.

Arriving on the bridge he got to tying Epona down. "Remember what to do if someone tries to horse-nap you?" Epona neighed in response. "Right, bite them and act crazy." Other then Skull Kid's forest surprise, his horse had been good enough at attacking horse thieves that no one tried it twice.

The interior of the bustling little town was the same as the first (last?) time he saw it. Sure the people were different, new shops opened where the old ones stood (not included in that list was the Happy Mask Shop, which Link almost wanted to visit and see if his old friend were back), and some of the architecture was new, but it still felt like when he first came and visited.

* * *

He almost wanted to play some of the games they still had to offer, before stopping himself. _"Stop fooling around, to the Castle!" _The majestic allure of frivolity and many prizes made Link rush out before he was swayed.

It was nice to know no matter where he was, and no matter how many times he made himself widely visible, security was often loose and lax. At one point Link considered putting on the Deku Mask and spitting all over them, just to see their reactions. They'd deserve that much for their terrible jobs.

As he navigated through the same old path, dodging the guards more for fun then out of fear of getting caught, he imagined Zelda still spying on her father and his men

He wasn't sure why he thought she would be here, in the same place they first met as children. But deep down Link felt she would be there, waiting for him.

Walking down the final hall before the circular garden he expected his old friend, ready to greet him and welcome him back with open arms.

Instead he found nothing. Just an empty little field, barely changed in the meantime. The trees were a little taller, the water still looked nice and fresh, even the flowers were taller and prettier. The fact remained that, no, she was not there underneath the tall black Triforce.

Slumping, sighing, and turning slowly he actually did walk into a wall, or rather a wall-like woman.

After jumping back on his feet, and checking that he did indeed walk into the Sage of Shadows, he gave her his biggest grin. "Impa! I didn't see you there."

"Indeed, you keep doing that when you come to visit." She said grinning and patting his head. "I presume you are here to see Zelda?"

Nodding fervently, he held up his bag. "I've got a lot of cool stuff I brought from out of the country I wanted to show her."

"Well," the elder women scratched her chin, "the princess is having her lessons now. I don't imagine the King would be too happy about me bringing her out without a good reason." Waiting for Link's expression to fall she continued. "Although if I were to tell him the young man who alerted Hyrule to Ganondorf's deceit has returned, bearing gifts no less, I think he might bring her out for a full night of festivities." And Link's expression came full circle.

"Thanks Impa." He wondered what first he ought to show the beefy sovereign of Hyrule.

* * *

Despite remembering how titanic the King was, Link felt as if the man was even _bigger_ then last time he met him. From the first moment he entered the enormous and colorful room, Link eyes' were drawn to the Hyrule Kings large frame. Link couldn't even see the set of guards on his left and right, the splendid gold and red clothed King drew one's eye like a moth to a fire's glow.

The tall man, measuring more then six and a half feet, had hands capable of grappling Link's whole face, legs long enough to cover distances three times as fast as Link could, and likely possessed likely five times Link's weight. His facial hair all seemed to merge into a large carpet down his neck, still black but with specks of white here and there.

Link honestly believed the King could beat his sworn Goron brother in a hand to hand match just from looks alone. Despite a life of luxury, he seemed more stout then overweight, easily capable to holding his own in a fight.

On Link's left was Impa, who quickly shepherded him into the chamber after informing the King about him. She reminded him quickly not to say anything rude and to practice restraint when speaking. _I'm not that bad am I? _He asked her. _No but just take care alright._

"Presenting," A guard, one of many faceless entities that surrounded the King day and night, announced, "Link," every word came out loud and with a long pause, "of Kokiri Forest," his voice getting shriller with each burst of noise, "to his majesty, Lord Adalbert Matthias Hyrule!"

The King waved off his strangely voiced guard. "Thank you Gustavus, I shall receive him." The now-identified man saluted the King and marched off. As he walked off, Link caught a glimpse of the small field through the window on his right. Funny how he had gone from spying out that very window to being inside the room.

Far too curious, Link mumbled if the man always sounded like that. "Not always." The King, a good ten feet away, responded. A bit shocked at the King's good hearings, he blushed and bowed. In good humor, the King gave off a small chuckle, reminiscent of boulders bouncing off of a mountain. "No need to fear my boy, Gustavus merely reacts as such in the presence of dignities and such. I imagine he isn't much of a talker on his own time."

Bowing again Link offered a gift to his lord. "Oh King of Hyrule, I bring gifts from foreign lands to you and the nation." He rifled through his bag and produced a bottle of milk, and a thick golden disc connected to a long chain. "The Chateau Romani, special milk from a foreign land, made with magical properties for special guests."

His first offering was taken by another masked guard, this time a man on the King's left instead of one far away from him. The guard took a small sip, checking for poisons or drugs slipped in. He started pounding his chest and coughing immediately after swallowing.

The King's eyebrow rose at the sight. "Something wrong Karl? Is milk too much for you?" He lightly mocked. The man waved off his sovereigns concerns, at the end of his coughing fit. "No my liege, merely more potent then I expected." Karl gave the mostly full bottle to Adalbert, his right hand covering the whole of the bottle. Taking a swig his eyes expanded, as if all notion of tiredness were expelled from his mind and heart.

Pounding his chest he echoed his soldiers opinion. "Ah, now this is indeed potent." His gaze returned to Link, enjoying the image of adults who couldn't handle a simple _milk_ without going crazy. "I hope someone as young as you haven't been drinking this." He gave his time tested glare, meant to inspire guilt and extract confessions from the unwilling.

Smiling Link said, "No sir, I haven't drunken any of that." Pointing to the bottle Link told the honest truth, he had never taken a swig from that particular bottle _and_ that particular milk. "I hope you liked it?"

"Loved it." The King muttered. "And what is this little golden trinket you have." He looked over the little device, twisting and turning in Link's hand, trying to discern what was so special the little Kokiri boy included this as a gift to him.

"This is for Zelda sir, a pocket watch." He clicked the little button on top and it opened, revealing a small clock inside it. Normal clocks were rare even within the richer parts of Hyrule, those that were around being primarily run via magic. Tiny, mechanical versions one could carry around with them was under heard of in the kingdom. Even Impa bent over Link to get a look at it before he gave it to the King.

The King and his men were enraptured by this small device, staring at it a full minute as it went around. It was simple without being crude or dull, shining with a white and black interior and honest golden exterior.

"Fascinating." Link forgot how confusing many of the trinkets he found were his first time in Termina. As time went on, he became acquainted with them so much he wondered how he'd adjust back to a more rural and technologically backwards country like Hyrule.

"Anyways." The King brought himself, and his men, out of their stupor. "A beautiful little gift my boy." Gently he clasped it shut and handed back to Link. "I'm sure my daughter will enjoy it." Pausing for a moment he turned to his other man. "Charles, Zelda is studying now, correct?" Upon confirmation via nod, the King continued. "Inform her it is being cut short today, I'm sure she will be far happier here then in her study room."

Turning to Zelda's attendant, he ordered, "Bring our young guest to her." He shifted in his seat. "I'm sure she will enjoy having a respite from the doldrums of book learning." Link followed Impa's stiff bow and followed her out of the room. "Link." The King called him out right before he exited the door. "If you wish to visit, feel free to ask entrance, there's no need to sneak around." Red-faced, Link nodded and quickly exited.

After walking out of the room, Impa gave a big sigh and mumbled some thanks to the Goddesses.

"You alright Impa?" Link asked. "You seem a little nervous." She was rubbing her forehead in exasperation. She seemed just fine to him before they came to see the King.

"I'm fine, I was a bit worried if the King would be in a good mood with you." Taking him aside into a small room, decorated with drapes and a nice wooden table that a dozen people could have sat in, she explained. "The King has always been a moody man, I heard even as a child he had a bit of a temper. And that has been especially true since the Queen died so long ago, bless her soul."

The knowledge of Zelda's own mother dying at a young age surprised Link. He hadn't ever heard mention of the Queen so he wasn't too shocked to here that she was gone.

"He's never been particularly cruel or rude, but his bad moods run deep." Impa continued, snapping Link out of his thoughts. "He can go from happy to furious to calm all in a matter of minutes." She crossed her arms and unconsciously tapped her fingers against her left arm. "When I told him you arrived his demeanor changed dramatically and I became a bit worried." Impa became worried when he went from rather bored to narrow eyed at her announcement, in hindsight she should have realized he would react like that.

Link blinked at that. "Why? Wouldn't he be happy knowing I came back?" He couldn't imagine why the King _wouldn't_ want him back, with gifts and everything. He'd never done anything to alienate the King, if anything he was the best little citizen the guy had!

"Yes he would be but," Impa closed her eyes and pinched the top of her nose in annoyance, "Let me explain something first. Darunia and the King still meet every year or so: All of the races tend to have him received annually for various meetings."

"Apparently," her face scrunched as she said it, "Darunia told him, for some reason, about the future that wasn't, as well as his involvement as the Sage of Fire, Ganondorf's reign, and your and Zelda's position in stopping it." Impa swallowed. "When he returned and asked about it, he was furious to say the least."

She could still remember his scarlet face, and animated body movements as he furiously scolded them both over keeping such important information from him.

Link thought about it for a bit, wondering why he'd be so mad over that, and realized, "You guys never told him about it? At all?" She nodded, eyes closed and looking very tired. "I guess I understand why, but..." Link trailed off.

"His majesty was apoplectic that we kept such a thing from him. Only after Zelda reminded him of his failures to heed her visions did he stop," she paused, "stop shouting I mean. He was in a foul mood all week and he didn't speak to either of us for a month."

For the first time in her life, Impa was legitimately afraid of losing the King's favor, and possibly her life as a result. Regardless of her position as Zelda's nursemaid, her services were requested and could be terminated by the will of the crown. Thankfully her worst fears never materialized, his majesty returned to his firm and content state, but they still haunted her whenever the King's mood was anything less then cheerful.

"It was only after that was he willing to hear our side of the story. He was still mad that we never told him, but he did confess he'd have been unlikely to believe us in the first place." She scowled after saying that. "I still have the need to backhand Darunia. I swear, all the rocks that man eats go to his guts _and_ his brains." That sounded about right to Link. He liked Darunia, but the truth was the truth.

Trying to get her away from her own melancholia, Link joked, "Maybe I could do that for you? Heck I could beat him in his own form if you wanted." Link imaged the surprise the whole Goron tribe would have if there little Kokiri friend transmogrified into their likeness.

Impa blinked at that. "In his own form?" Before Link could pull out his Goron Mask, one of the many castle guards knocked on the open door. He looked and sounded like nearly all the others. "Her young majesty is ready to receive you."

Walking through all of the rooms in the castle was something of a treat for Link. While it wasn't near the biggest or the most fantastic thing he saw, it was nice to travel through such a place without having to hurry for one reason or another. It was also nice not to have to fight everything that moved.

After being escorted through several twisting and turning corridors, they finally arrived at a large wooden door, inscribed 'study-room.' The first things Link noticed were the tall mounds of books, from the titles he could tell they covered topics from philosophy to geography to even painting. The room itself was nice, tall with large bookcases, big windows which let the sun in. He could imagine just sitting here and sleeping under the sun light (and probably get scolded for it).

"Miss Zelda will be arriving shortly," the guard said, "she should be putting on her best ensemble for her guest."

The only think Link remembered her wearing was a pink dress with some gold jewelry here and there, both as a child and as an adult. Link would bet his Gilded Sword she would be more or less like that.

The door to the far left opened and exited Zelda. Link immediately forgot about whatever he was just thinking.

Standing about a inch taller then him, dressed in a familiar pink and white dress, Triforce earrings, something resembling the golden shoulder cuffs she wore as an adult, and no headdress. She looked positively divine to Link, his attention solely on he. As the guard went on about something Link couldn't take off his focus on her soft blue eyes, staring back at him. The same eyes that kept their knowing glow, and mischievous spark hidden underneath, expanded in joy at the sight of her friend.

"-so I expect you, our young guest, to keep her young majesty out of trouble." Link had no clue what the guards proceeding words were, but did his best to smile and nod along. "Alright then." He tapped his spear to the ground, said "I'll leave you two here under Impa's care," and left.

Neither of them spoke, suddenly mindful of what the other looked like, and how they contrasted. Link quickly spotted a few places where his tunic was ripped or had a grass or dirt smudge. Zelda realized she might be dressed a bit too ostentatious, with her fine silks and gaudy jewelry, for her unpretentious forest friend.

A long, uncomfortable silence passed as the two averted the others gaze, trying to somehow change their appearances with just their hands, preferably quickly and dramatically. Meanwhile Impa stood there, passively observing these two adolescents whose minds and bodies no longer quite matched. She thought it was rather cute how awkward they became.

"Well then," Impa announced standing up, "I think I'll leave you two to catch up," and closed the door behind her before either could beg her to stay..

The two stood there, bashfully trying to keep out of the others sight, until Zelda broke the silence. "I hope you've been well, Link." She said, smiling softly and looking slightly under his chin. Her soft voice more like the calm and understated pitch of the elder Zelda, then that of the young and frantic girl who feared Ganondorf and asked him to run around Hyrule.

_You are already leaving this land of Hyrule, aren't you..._

"I am." Tapping his shoes and furiously trying to thing of what to say. The only thing that came to mind was her last words to him before he went on his first attempt to find Navi.

_Even though it was only a short time, I feel like I've known you forever..._

At times he felt like that as well...

_I'll never forget the days we spent together in Hyrule..._

Whether it was just the memories of Sheik teaching him new songs, or the young Zelda entertaining him as a guest in her garden, he treasured those memories dearly. Even as he slowly grew the urge to find Navi, to go out and see more of the world that stretched on forever in his sight, he could never just leave this girl, this friend, behind.

He reached into his bag. "I wanted to say thanks for lending me this." He pulled out his Ocarina of Time, polished and blue. Zelda's eyes grew as he handed it back to her. "It's saved me more times then I can count, and I figured it's time to return it."

_I believe in my heart that a day will come when I shall meet you again. _

Despite his words, and that it was inches away from Zelda, she refused to take it. "It's yours Link."

_Until that day comes, please, take this._

"You said it was mine until I came back." He held her hand and put the Ocarina in it. "It's not really mine, I've just been borrowing it until now." Even considering how long he held onto it, he never quite felt like the Ocarina of Time belong to him. He always saw it as a tether back to Hyrule, to the Goddesses, to Zelda.

Despite that she refused to take it "I wanted you to keep it until you found Navi." She whispered it so quietly, almost hoping Link wouldn't hear it and they wouldn't have to confront it. Almost immediately she regretted saying that, as Link turned away and looked in pain. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that."

_Why, why, why did I do that._ She mentally berated herself. She tried to find the best way to say that, but the first thing that came out were these insulting little daggers.

"It's fine." He mumbled, face turned away and obviously pained. It wasn't, but both of them tried to play that little game and pretend like it was. "I've had a lot of adventures since leaving. I even left Hyrule for a short time." He said trying to smile and ignore what she just said.

"Really?" Glad the conversation was moving elsewhere, she jumped on it. "I've never been outside of the country myself, and even rarely the castle itself."

Link was surprised by that. While it was a nice place, being cooped up in only the castle his whole life didn't seem like something he could imagine. "I've gotten a lot of stuff that I wanted to show you." He reached for inside his bag and held the golden pocket watch he'd bought.

Being the inquisitive young girl she was, Zelda held it aloft and inspected it all around before pressing the button. It opened revealing small numbers and hands slowly going around them. "I've never seen anything like this before." Link could tell, like her father, she had an appreciation for these little trinkets.

"It's a beautiful little thing Link." She clapped it shut. "Where did you get it."

"A friend gave it to me, after his wedding, he told me that 'time moves on no matter who you are and no matter what you do.'" He looked away from her and scratched his head. "Honestly my first thought came to you when he said that." He smiled as he said.

Before he left Termina, Kafei and Anju gave it to him as a thanks for helping them out. He felt that just as they exchanged their masks, he ought to give something to Zelda for her Ocarina.

Link felt it only right to give it to Zelda, to have her hold on to a part of him. Even if she couldn't fight with him, or sneak around in the shadows helping Link in some small ways, Zelda would forever stay in his mind and heart.

"I'll treasure it always." She pressed it to her chest.

* * *

A short while after leaving them, maybe an hour or so, Impa wondered if they were still there awkwardly avoiding conversation. Tossing aside any shred of worry, she quietly approached the outside window and listened in. Even if she weren't trying, she likely would have heard Link's voice.

"So I arrive inside the room," his voiced boomed epically, "and I see this giant ice block with a mechanical bull inside it. I wonder if I can just chip off the head could I take the mask without a fight."

"So were you able to?" Zelda asked, fully invested in the story of Snowhead. Eyes wide as he recited one of his many tales in Termina.

Smiling, Impa chuckled how animated Link was in his reenactment and Zelda's deep concentration toward his story.

"Unfortunately it was too high, so I tried to carefully launch a fire arrow at his neck. Instead of decapitating him, I melted the ice block and he started running away."

Link held up a Goron Mask, and put it on. Impa nearly jumped back when she saw the young boy (basically a man she had to admit to herself) actually become a Goron, wearing his green cap and boots.

Zelda, instead of being surprised as she was, gave a "wooooow," at the transformation, and told him to go on. Impa wondered why she wasn't as surprised.

"So," Link said in his deep Goron voice, "I start chasing him around the circular room, dodging his electric blasts and ramming into him from his sides and from behind."

Link reached for his face, took off the mask, and transformed back into a Hylian.

"As Goht, the giant mechanical bull, tottered side to side, I shot him once with a fire arrow and he went down for good." He lifted his gold sword and announced, "The great masked menace of the north had been slain, and the spring returned once again to the land of Snowhead." He held his long golden sword, pointed defiantly at the ceiling. "As I still had two days I was able to go and get my Kokiri Swords transformed into this!"

"Amazing." Zelda clapped at the end of his tale, but more focused on the various masks he had. "So is that all the transformative masks you have, what about the one that looks like you, and how about the Moon, what happened to the Moon, and the giants? What about the frogs, and-" Impa felt a little embarrassed as her young girl pestered Link for answers and stories (really she was never this demanding with others) and felt like going in and scolding her.

"No that's the last of them." He looked down wistfully at the Goron Mask, placing it next to the Zora and Deku ones. "Even though I saved Snowhead, I still feel like I was too late to save some people." Link only met Darmani once, as a phantasm, and the knowledge that the hero of the Gorons in Termina was unable to survive still hurt him even with the power he gained from the man's death.

Zelda gently clasped his arm. "You did what you could, even when we were older we couldn't save everyone and had to make do with what we could." She tried to sooth him as best as she could, and avoid careless words like before.

He didn't say much, but smiled contently. A minute of silence went by, Impa almost considered leaving them be, until Zelda went and picked up a mask that looked almost like Link himself.

"So what is this?" She asked, curious how a mask looked like the elder Link. "Was it specially made for you?" The Fierce Deity Mask, one he tried to avoid showing off and explaining as best he could.

"I got that inside the Moon, from the kids there." Zelda, partially aware of the Moon's significance, as one of many stories she extracted from him in non-sequential order, nodded slightly aware. Impa merely had to wonder what he meant by _children within the moon_.

"When I put it on, it feels like I'm even more distant from myself." Link took the mask from her and stared at it for a while. "You know the Mask Shop Guy right? The one I keep mentioning?"

"I believe he came by once to sell my father some wares, but that was years ago." She admitted. "I can still picture his face though, very ubiquitous." But Link and Impa got a chuckle out of that.

"As we left Termina, I asked him about it," Link said tracing circles around the mask's eye holes. "He said it was a 'persecutor of evil' and that the spirit lost himself long ago to his duty of fighting evil."

He never met the spirit who inhabited this mask. Link couldn't tell what kind of person it's powers came from, he couldn't even know what the mask was made of. "When I put it on, even for a little bit," he swallowed and started shaking a little, "I kind of enjoyed destroying them. I feel happy when I see them suffering and dying so easily."

The memories of the four masked beasts, of Majora in all of it's forms, burning and falling so easily, it made him happy. It made him feel powerful and invincible for once over the monsters he had to fight again and again. For once _he _was the unstoppable threat, and they were his prey.

"Link, it's not you, it's the mask itself." Zelda didn't have a firsthand knowledge of the transformation masks but she did pay extra attention as he explained them to her. She gathered that they were infused with, if not wholly then partially, with the spirits of those who died to create them. "Your body and mind aren't yours completely, they are you and someone else. You shouldn't feel bad because of it."

He looked so tired. Even a good few feet away Impa could peek through and see the bags under his eyes, and slump he developed as he talked about the look-alike mask. She also could see how he drifted back from that dead eyed look when Zelda came closer.

"Thank you Zelda." He turned away from Zelda, toward the window, and shouted, "Thank you too Impa!" Both Impa and Zelda were shocked by those words, Impa especially.

Zelda turned toward the window, and shouted, "Impa are you there!? Have you been spying on us!?"

A few moments later she appeared from the door she left in, on the other side of the room. "Impa were you really out there watching us?" Zelda said with her hands on her hips, and pouting. She was just a bit sassier then he remembered her.

"I'm sure she didn't mean to, right Impa?"

"Indeed, I was merely making the rounds." Apparently that was good enough for Zelda, as she quit looking at Impa suspiciously. "Will you be staying the night Link?"

"Uh, sure." Scratching his head he wondered if he forgot anything. "Oh yeah! I left Epona outside of the bridge!" The sun was already getting to the edge, and Link wasn't sure if he would make it all the way there in time.

"Well you better hurry then." Impa said, narrowly dodging him as he ran out of the room. "You remember where the stables are right!?" He gave her a thumbs up as he kept running.

Turning to the table, where Link left nearly all of his things, even that titanic golden sword, Impa cautiously picked up one of the masks. "I only saw the last few minutes of you two talking, and I saw him put this on." She inspected the Goron Mask from all sides, wondering what sort of powerful magic could transform a person into another species.

"Link told me these three masks, the Deku, Goron, and Zora ones, contained the souls of the deceased, by those whom he failed to save." She gently caressed the pocket watch he gave her. "He told me of this world, Termina, overtaken by despair and nihilism, and how he had to repeat time over and over again to save it." She clicked it open. "The song of time somehow let him reset the same three days every time he used it."

"Truly?" The idea of having to repeat the same days over and over again would be maddening to her after a while.

"He used it to great effect, managing to save many people and defeat the evils plaguing the land on the final day. Although I was curious about his first few attempts at traversing the lands."

"You miss it don't you?" When Zelda turned her head to the side Impa continued. "Sheik? Traveling the land free of the burdens of royalty?"

Zelda remained silent for a while, obviously conflicted on how to answer. "I won't lie and say I don't completely miss it. The Hyrule I had to help Link save was a horrible one, but," she bit her lip, "I do admit I enjoyed the freedom of travel, of being responsible for myself and not having to rely on others."

"Is that all? You seem far more conflicted then just that?" Zelda turned away, partially out of shame. It was embarrassing how well Impa knew her.

"Some days I fear like I am the tadpole in the pond, and that I'll never grow my legs." She swung her legs back and forth. "I fear that Link will depart into the sea and never return. He's already seen so much as a child, and saved two worlds mostly with his own power."

"I'm sure Link wasn't able to save Termina on his own, and I know he wasn't able to defeat Ganondorf by himself." She patted Zelda on the back. "No one can do anything by themselves, and I don't imagine Link will just forget about you." She smiled down at Zelda.

Staring down at her golden pocket watch, she wondered if maybe Impa was right.

* * *

My chief inspiration for writing this were the two stories _Heteromance_ and_ Childhood Ashes _by Silvara. Unfortunately my writing skills are nowhere _near_ as good as Silvara, so if you want something a bit deeper and more emotionally resonant, I'd recommend those two stories.


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